Xie Zhizhang, Qingxiangzhai Owner"I did not gain insight of tea in a straightforward manner. To me, tea is interrelated with the misty texture in Chinese ink paintings, and it is where my heart belongs. I can access a fairly pure world by virtue of the tea. Fragrance Hall, or Qingxiangzhai, is named after an ancient poem from Lu You, "Everything in the world wears off in vain, only the fragrance remains like old times." This is my state of mind.

I used to work in a gallery, and I took a whole year off after I quit my job there. During that one year, I took a walk every day in the mountain. The purity in that setting is exuberant, and then I realized that I should build a place that's vibrant and pure. I started to work on it with a Zen mindset, with the pure intention to create a space to settle my mind and body, and it's for myself. I brought back the concept of tea ceremony.

Back then, I positioned myself to work on Taiwanese Oolong tea ceremony, because this ceremony means morality to me, and morality comes from righteousness. Our method is based upon righteousness, and the morality is engraved in its soul. Many friends think the tea ceremony in Taiwan is an imitation of the Japanese style, but I don't think so. The tea we are drinking is Oolong tea, and Japan has not been able to produce Oolong tea up until today. That's why the Taiwanese Oolong tea is so popular in Japan. Thus I bring in the idea of tea ceremony.

My concept of tea table is just like this, it's a domain designed for drinking tea. This is a tea table, and that is a tea table. There’s a tea table on the other side, the table which two people sit on the same side is called joint tea table. Either one person or a group of people can enjoy tea there. The space is designed to create the atmosphere for tea tasting alone. Many people stress the presentation while having tea. They would use beautiful tea sets, which may not function smoothly. I think this is perversion, since function should not be compromised for appearance.

There are some potted plants here. I did not plant them the way they are now at first. Some birds carried seeds and dropped into the pot, they grew out later on, and I let them be. I keep the ones that look good, and trim the ones that don't. I am thankful that they survived, because the lighting is not that good in here. They started growing outward and hanging from the top. It is the painting in my heart, and the garden in my heart."